National Consultant updating and finalization of research report “Leaving No One Behind

Background

The Central Asian Alliance to End GBV (hereafter - the Alliance) was established in June 2023 under the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative for Central Asia and Afghanistan as a regional platform uniting state and non-state actors from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Alliance brings together government institutions, civil society organizations, including youth-led and by-and-for initiatives, GBV experts, and media actors to advance coordinated and gender-transformative action to prevent and respond to GBV across the region.

During the implementation of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative Regional Programme for Central Asia and Afghanistan, UN Women commissioned a regional qualitative research study titled “Leaving No One Behind:
Gender-based Violence among Women with Intersecting Identities in Central Asia.” The study applied the Leaving No One Behind (LNOB) principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to examine how multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination increase women’s exposure to GBV and restrict access to protection, justice, and services.

The research was conducted in 2023 and combined desk review with qualitative interviews with women from marginalized groups, GBV service providers, and civil society organizations, with primary data collected in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan, and contextual analysis covering Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Following the conclusion of the Spotlight Initiative, the Central Asian Alliance to End GBV, the successor of the programme, has assumed responsibility for finalizing, validating, and making this research available as a flagship regional knowledge product. The Alliance intends to use the report to support evidence-based advocacy, regional and national policy dialogue, learning, and programming on inclusive GBV prevention and response.

While the research draft has been completed, additional work is required to ensure analytical coherence, editorial quality, policy relevance, and compliance with UN Women and Alliance publication standards, as well as readiness for public dissemination. To this end, the Alliance seeks to engage a National Consultant to support the finalization and publication of the study.

Under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Central Asian Alliance EGBV Coordinator and in close coordination with UN Women Kazakhstan, the National Consultant will provide technical, analytical, and editorial support to finalize the “Leaving No One Behind” research and prepare it for publication as a high-quality Alliance knowledge product. As the report was originally developed in English, the Consultant will carry out all revisions and updates in English;

following its translation into Russian, the Consultant will also conduct a final review of the Russian version to ensure consistency and quality. This assignment does not involve primary data collection or re-analysis of qualitative data, but focuses on updating, for example, the context, data, recommendations, etc., strengthening the existing research and aligning with UN Women’s Knowledge Management guidance and other UN Women’s relevant policies.

Within the assignment, the National Consultant will be responsible for the following activities:

• Technical and analytical Review
• Conduct a comprehensive technical and analytical review of the full research draft, including methodology, findings, country sections, conclusions, and recommendations.

• Update relevant sections of the report to reflect the latest available data, policy developments, and programmatic changes ), particularly in:

• legislative and policy frameworks;
• GBV service provision and systems;
• regional and national initiatives.

• Ensure analytical consistency and alignment with the Leave No One Behind (LNOB) and intersectionality frameworks.

• Strengthen the coherence between evidence, analysis, and recommendations, identifying and addressing any gaps or inconsistencies.

• Policy Relevance and Strategic Framing
• Refine and sharpen key messages, conclusions, and recommendations to ensure they are:

• clear, evidence-based, and actionable;
• aligned with current…